Bulk aging in a hot climate, no basement?

[NoSourGrapes]

I plan on doing 3-4 carboys this season from grapes. I live right outside Sacramento with 110 degree days and my coolest temp in the house will be mid 70's. I have garage space and will be building a work area, but I'm assuming that I also need to plan on temperature controlled bulk storage. A search didn't show anything, but I have to imagine this is a common problem? Anyone have a solution for carboys now and perhaps 30 gallon barrel in the future?

 

[TropicalMike]

I live in Bali, Indonesia. Most days of the year are around 95F and the interior of my house is rarely cooler than 70F. I use 20 lt food grade plastic carboys. My only rule about temperature is that nothing will be in the direct sunlight.

All my wines - tropical fruit, some flowers and vegetables - develop well and the lack of temperature control does not seem to harm them. At least, my friends don't seem to think it is a problem as they help me to drink my product.

 

[seth8530]

I would say that so long as they stay in the 70's they should be fine enough.. Make sure to keep the light out if possible.


Tropical Mike,

Welcome to the forums, sounds like you got some fun fruit to work with.

 

[peaches9324]

I plan on doing 3-4 carboys this season from grapes. I live right outside Sacramento with 110 degree days and my coolest temp in the house will be mid 70's. I have garage space and will be building a work area, but I'm assuming that I also need to plan on temperature controlled bulk storage. A search didn't show anything, but I have to imagine this is a common problem? Anyone have a solution for carboys now and perhaps 30 gallon barrel in the future?

what some people have done is place the carboy in a 5 gal tub with some cool water in it and add some water bombs so not to add to the volume of the water. And keep extra water bottles or "water bombs" in the freezer so you can exchange them out when needed

 

[beggarsu]

I plan on doing 3-4 carboys this season from grapes. I live right outside Sacramento with 110 degree days and my coolest temp in the house will be mid 70's. I have garage space and will be building a work area, but I'm assuming that I also need to plan on temperature controlled bulk storage. A search didn't show anything, but I have to imagine this is a common problem? Anyone have a solution for carboys now and perhaps 30 gallon barrel in the future?

You do risk ruining your wine especially for long term storage. 70's is really skirting it.

Do a search for wine temperature storage's 70 is too high - ideal long term storage of finished wine is about 52 degrees. I read one guy complained his wine went bad in his apartment in Montreal - because of the heat - he had no safe room when temp went over 80 for a few days.
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Fermenting is usually over 70 or in the 70's but finishing it probably is better in 60's.or lower and storage is lower.
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For that much wine I would build a air con work area or find a basement.
Thirty Gallons !!! That's a lot of wine to ruin. about six batches or 150 bottles.

Just under my trailer drops the temperature in summer to 60.
In the summer I cannot store my wine in my trailer or even porch until I finish a small room with air-con - which I think I will - it is a very small room air tight air con will not cost much. And I am in the Canadian Prairies and even summer here is too hot for wine.

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The fellow in Bali said he had tropical fruit wines or local product wines and also didn't say how long they were kept - might not be a good standard for California wine.

--->
Oh yeah I spent one summer keeping carboys cool in the bathtub - it works . The temperature of my intake water was really cool It works even if the room is hot just don't let the sunlight touch the carboy.
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The carboy just needs to be immersed a little in the water maybe a quarter or to a half - whatever works. Get a wine thermometer and run an occasional temp check of the internal carboy. and you can develop a system of just touching the outside water and knowing if it's cool enough.


The water is really cool and it keeps the carboy cool - doubtless your source of house water is also cold or cool - if you have a big tub or whatever keep your carboys in them and everyday or so run a hose , refresh the water and have a run off for the water -that will work.

 

[JohnT]

I think that you worry over nothing. 70 degrees is fine for short term storage of wine (0 - 5 years or so). A steady 70 degrees should be fine, but temps that wildly fluctuate is not good. If your temps will change from 70 to 90 then back down to 70, then I would think that you need to entertain the idea of climate control.

I do not see how using the above "water bomb" method can ever maintain a consistent temperature. You add ice, then the temp quickly drops, only to warm back up. IMHO, this is not a viable option for long term storage of wine. (sorry to disagree peaches)

I think that some folks here convert chest freezers to be wine storage lockers. I believe that it involves getting a replacement thermostat that will maintain the temperature at 55 or 60 degrees.

Another option it to simply box out a small closet and get yourself a nice efficient air conditioner.

 

[Floandgary]

Don't know how well it has caught on in the rest of the world, but I've noted that in SoCal at least, there are wine storage facilities as businesses. Much like self-storage lockers found around the globe! Capacities may vary, but worth looking in to,,,,, OR even starting on your own!!!
http://www.wine-searcher.com/storage.lml

 

[NoSourGrapes]

Thank you for the replies. We do have cold storage available, $40/mo for 5x5 space. It is 20 minutes each way from the house and there isn't any area for working.
I have been researching getting an old freezer with an independent temperature control, but finding one big enough for a 30 gallon barrel may be a challenge.
I thought of building a self contained box of wood, insulating foam and then buy a 4 foot high fridge, take off the door and attach it to a corresponding hole in the structure. It also would need an independent means to control the temperature. My concern there is energy use, as well as it's ability to keep the space regulated when the garage temps gets above 90 degrees.
Just some ideas, but it seems like a problem that others would face and have solved.

 

[beggarsu]

Thank you for the replies. We do have cold storage available, $40/mo for 5x5 space. It is 20 minutes each way from the house and there isn't any area for working.
I have been researching getting an old freezer with an independent temperature control, but finding one big enough for a 30 gallon barrel may be a challenge.
I thought of building a self contained box of wood, insulating foam and then buy a 4 foot high fridge, take off the door and attach it to a corresponding hole in the structure. It also would need an independent means to control the temperature. My concern there is energy use, as well as it's ability to keep the space regulated when the garage temps gets above 90 degrees.
Just some ideas, but it seems like a problem that others would face and have solved.

I found that water bath in tub kept a constant temperature (not ice bombs) - I just drained and refreshed the water every day not even sure it needed that. The intake water temp was really cool.
And at that the room the tub was in was really hot!!!
But that was air temp - the bottle temp was cool and only gained heat very slowly.

 

[peaches9324]

I think that you worry over nothing. 70 degrees is fine for short term storage of wine (0 - 5 years or so). A steady 70 degrees should be fine, but temps that wildly fluctuate is not good. If your temps will change from 70 to 90 then back down to 70, then I would think that you need to entertain the idea of climate control.

I do not see how using the above "water bomb" method can ever maintain a consistent temperature. You add ice, then the temp quickly drops, only to warm back up. IMHO, this is not a viable option for long term storage of wine. (sorry to disagree peaches)

I think that some folks here convert chest freezers to be wine storage lockers. I believe that it involves getting a replacement thermostat that will maintain the temperature at 55 or 60 degrees.

Another option it to simply box out a small closet and get yourself a nice efficient air conditioner.

no problem John I was just sharing some info I got from this forum. I never have had to use that procedure myself. And NoSourGrapes was just looking for a temporary fix and assuming NoSourGrapes knew to watch the temp of the bath

 

[beggarsu]

no problem John I was just sharing some info I got from this forum. I never have had to use that procedure myself. And beggarsu was just looking for a temporary fix and assuming beggarsu knew to watch the temp of the bath

Wine thermometer is about 7 dollars - I took temp of bath and inside carboy - it was very stable . Bath or tub solution doesn't require much - just a hose, tub and water drain and like I say room was hot but carboy was cool because direct contact with water greater than the air contact.
Won't take much to test it.

Most household water sources are very cool as water comes from underground pipes.

 

[NoSourGrapes]

Doing anything inside the house is out of the question. I am looking for a permanent solution for 6 months out of the year.

 

[beggarsu]

Doing anything inside the house is out of the question. I am looking for a permanent solution for 6 months out of the year.

You could do a hose and tub in thee garage but it sounds like you need an air con workroom like joeswine has - check out his pics.

 

[peaches9324]

check under Wine Cellar & Storage Forum